public, it lost, for the first time since its inception, its semi-sacred qualities. Only then did it stand upon its own merits and become as other portraits. Then, for the first time, it could be seen by the ordinary individual—then only it became the subject of comment as any other picture at the Fair. Then it was open to the gaze of the vulgar and the comment of the scoffer.
At the close of the Exposition, a delegate was sent from the Chinese Legation in Washington to arrange for the transportation of the picture to the latter place. The portrait and its carved support were again placed in their satin-lined cases, and it began the journey to Washington. Her Majesty had decided when the portrait was completed to her satisfaction that it would be a suitable present for her to make to the United States. She thought this would be particularly appropriate, as the painting of the portrait for the St. Louis Exposition had been thought of by the wife of the American Minister to Peking, and as it had been executed by an American artist. Thus the United States received the gift of the first portrait ever painted of a Chinese Ruler.
When the portrait arrived in Washington, His Excellency Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, the Chinese Minister to Washington, attended by his Secretaries, made a formal presentation of the portrait to the President, which Mr. Roosevelt received on behalf of the United States Government.